We have all done something like that. If you don't try something different-how ya gonna learn. It looks like you could probably put a cork shim or something in there to save the day.

Can't you just trim some off the end of the rod blank butt?

Beautiful reel seat BTW!

I had something similar happen when the epoxy I used to glue the grip set up before I could slide it all the way down to the reel seat. I solved it by slicing a cork ring to fit the gap, reaming the hole to fit the blank, and then making 1 slice to open it. I just stuffed it into the gap and sanded it down to shape. You can't even see what I did if I told you.

Thanks for describing this experience, and thus generating various solutions--all with the idea that if we aren't trying something and making a mistake from time to time, we aren't learning and finding a better way for our purpose. These days I am building so little that sometimes I don't even remember how I did something the last time so I think it out all over.

I'll tell you one concept I have used for years satisfactorily, not because of a mistake in fitting a reel seat but because I always know I might want to change one or realign it. I like to cant a reel seat so the guides hang exactly a 6 o'clock when the rod is held in a customary fishing position, let's say horizontal to 35 degrees angle upward. That depends on what reels I find I want to use most frequently on that rod, even what lines or what type of fishing I wind up doing most with it--upstream casts and dead drifts, downstream swings, etc. I want the guides to orient optimally to the most common rod and line angle, rather than have to be held there against rotary force of the reel wanting to hang the rod in a different position, usually a few degrees one way or the other. That is a source of fatigue for a person with nerve damage in both wrists.

Probuilders typically use max adhesives. They don't want comebacks, nor expect that the user will be making micro adjustments--having already customized as much as feasible to the user prefs--afterwards.

A hobby builder is the customizer. So anyhow, I use the mildest, most easily released glue there is. The worst that can happen--it never has--would be that the reel seat loosens when I didn't want it to, so I would have to swap rods for a day and glue it back snug that evening.

Lately I have been using craft hot melt glue for this purpose--without failure. I can fiddle with micro adjustments any time after the slightest application of heat. I can change a reel seat on a whim--for cosmetics, for better fit to match some different reels I favored with the rod, for downlock to up lock, to replace a damaged seat, and so on. Most important to me is alignment, canting as necessary to minimize the reel's rotary force against the optimum fishing position. I assemble the reel seat components the same way.

Several of these have been used in stout duty without failure.

A pair of Conolon rebuilds, both hotmelt glued--cork, reel seat components, and reel seat--got me trusting this mild adhesive in "field testing," during a spree on trout when fish after fish after fish, day after day after day, gave the tackle a workout.



A Fenwick, heavily fished since, glued up the same way.

Yes, I did notice when I dry-fit the seat. The barrel and ring, when flush to the handle, leave maybe 3/16" of the blank exposed, onto which the end cap fits. In my case, the seeped glue prevented that exposed blank fitting fully into the cap.

Whrlpool, I'm very interested in your hot-glue solution, to where I've come very close to buying a gun and some glue sticks. I intensely dislike working with epoxy. Do you use high-temperature, low, or dual-temp glue? Also, do you have any trouble with glue setting before the parts are in place? I've been concerned about hot-gluing the handle especially, and perhaps seats with wood inserts, fearing that I couldn't get the part hot enough without burning, should I need to add heat either for placement or disassembly. The all-metal LC10 I'm now working with would be a good candidate for me to try.

I can see that! I already use thermoplastic tip-top cement, and I'd bet that'd come loose in Arizona in July.

Will do some experimenting with the hot glue; thanks for good guidance.

Yes it is, and sorry that happened. I'm pretty paranoid about just that, and take pains to keep glue out of the clearance for reel foot. I have had to dab some out with a toothpick. I also keep some of the little pointed, tight-wound cotton swabs they sell at Hobby Lobby or Sally Beauty supply. One of those with a little denatured alcohol will clean out glue seepage. They're useful in removing grease-pencil guide marks once wraps are in place, too.

I used Pro Paste 15 minute (more like 20-21 at 63 degrees). It's actually pretty runny for a paste epoxy.

Production methods and hobby methods aren't necessarily the same. In rodbuilding as in anything else, it is good to be skeptical but it is hard to argue with success. Looking back, five years worth now. Cork rings to finished grip and reel seat mounted, an hour or two:

viewtopic.php?p=96392#p96392

I have probably jinxed myself and won't get ideal results on the next one.

Your on the way now for sure.